Monday, November 28, 2011

Natalia Shura, the daughter of Asmodeus, High Prince of Hell and Keeper of the Deadly Sin Lust, is unaware of the nature of her birth. When her demonic side begins to awaken, her world becomes dominated by dark passions and deadly cravings. Natalia fears she is losing her mind. But her love has been foretold as the only thing that can stop Belal and his allies, and they will do anything to prevent her ascension.

Facing assassins, avenging angels, Hell's deadly politics—and her real father—Natalia must accept the love of more than one man and embrace her demonic heritage as a Princess of Lust. If she doesn't, all that she cares about will be

I received this from an overwhelmed friend, who kindly asked if I could read/review a couple books. O course I could! So without further ado, here is my review of Daughter of Lust

Natalia is coming of age where her demonic nature starts to come out. However, since she is unaware of the fact she is a Camion (Half-demon, Half-human) she start to think her emotions and feelings aren't normal for a woman her age. She is seeking her father, who has problems, when she nearly slits Gregor Trezent's throat. A wealthy businessman, who was ready to have her killed, but decides to let her go and then orders her under his protection. She has feelings for him, but is unclear as to what depths they are yet... As her powers start to come out she's ashamed and scared of the feelings she can sense of others and the feelings they stir within her. A chance encounter with the neighboring boy Vicktor, now a man, has her seeing things that make her panties in a bunch. She comes to find out who her real father is another chance encounter where he is in human form with his top concubine, Galina. He tells her who she is and who he is, she's a disbeliever at first until her heart can't deny it. He then binds her to him as his daughter and disappears leaving her thinking it was a bad dream. She is finally understanding her powers and how they make her feel and how best to yield them, but she must first learn to control them. She unknowingly lets her powers loose and things go from bad to Hell real quick. She comes to find out things are nothing like what she was lead to believe Hell would be like.

Enter Raum, or as Natalia knew him, Vicktor. Raum is one of Asmodeus' alibis and son of Belal and one of the Guards to Asmodeus. He was sent to the human world to watch Natalia and help her come into her powers, but when she let her powers loose, a group of demons goes on a hunt to find her and he is forced to bring her to Hell for protection. He comes to realize that she could be a potential mate for him, but first she must be recognized by the Prince's emissaries as the true daughter of Asmodeus. He is sworn to protect her, but it becomes difficult when her powers and human family are put in danger and the consequences unleashes the Angelic Horde upon earth in search of her, and they flee.

The story started slow as we see Natalia struggle to come to grips with her mew feelings and powers,but progresses nicely as her powers form and she meets Vicktor and Gregor on several occasions. And once in Hell she get to truly see how some actions have dire consequences for loved ones. I'm' not going to ruin the ending, but I will say it was not as intense as I had hoped it would be. It left me lacking and wondering what did really happen once the Angelic Horde found them? In the epilogue I am completely left wondering what happens when Angels and Demons meet and how anyone survives? Other than that, I loved Ann's take on how Hell isn't as most religions portray it. There are places in hell which resemble the human world and even have luxuries. Her take on Demons and Angels is refreshing as well, with Demons of all sorts of skin and eye color, but what was interesting was how she describes their eyes, it reminds me of crude oil, black, but when seen right there are streaks of color in it. Same type of thing goes for angels, they all aren't like humans with white wings of feathers and yes, they DO yield weapons, and I don't mean a harp.

Vampires, angels, demons, werewolves and fae. If you can’t pick a favourite, then that’s okay!

At UTC, we love them all! So let’s celebrate our love for all things immortal with 2012’s Immortal Reading Challenge.

Here’s the rundown:
1. The Immortals Reading Challenge runs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. You can join at anytime from now and throughout the year. This is a 2012 challenge, so books read before January 1 will not count to your progress.
2. You pick your goal! Read as many books as you’d like for each species. This means that you can do just one category or all five or a combination of. The choice depends on you and your reading pace.
*We have chosen to have a three book per species standard. However, if this is a breeze for you, then feel free to tackle on the additional bonus entries of two more books of the same level.
3. Re-reads are acceptable.
4. Books chosen can be of any genre.
5. To participate, copy and paste this post on your blog along with the challenge button. We ask that you provide a link back to the sign-up page in case others wish to participate.
6. Readers without blogs can still participate! Keep track of your progress with Goodreads, Shelfari or LibraryThing.

To sign up:

1. Make a sign up post announcement, listing the level you've chosen and a list of books you plan to read. If you don't have a blog, post on GoodReads or another site as a thread where we can access your list of books. Be sure to take the image code above.

2. Come back here and using the list below, add your entry with a link directly to that post so we can see what you'll be reading.

You're done! Every month during 2012 we will make a challenge update post where you can come and updates us on how you're doing with your challenge.

Category 1: Vampires Some ideas for Vampire books
Read any THREE books with vampires as the main characters.
Bonus Entries: Additional TWO books with vampires

Category 2: Angels and Demons Some ideas for Angels and Demons books
Read any THREE books with angels and/or demons as the main characters.
Bonus Entries: Additional TWO books with angels and/or demons

Category 3: Fae Some ideas for Fae books
Read any THREE books with Fae as the main characters
Bonus Entries: Additional TWO books on Fae.

Category 4: Shifters/Werewolves Some ideas for Shifter books
Read any THREE books with shifters or werewolves as the main characters.
Bonus Entries: Additional TWO books on shifters or werewolves.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!

Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.

Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!>

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

""You are a kick ass chick, ready to face the night and kill some nasty vampires. You have your leathers on, your sidekick is ready... What is your weapon of choice?""

I'll be one to admit, I want technology on my side like Violet here. I want guns and kitana's to materialize when selected and have unlimited numbers at my disposal. It would easily help overcome being outnumbered and even my odds of survival.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, myself of course and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES &amp;gt; Feature &amp;amp; Follow Friday and get on the waiting list! It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

Parajunkee's Feature – Lauren’s Book Blog

My name is Lauren and my blog is Lauren’s Book Bag – not very original I know. Books have been my passion ever since I can remember and I turned my love of reading into a profession by becoming a college lecturer in English literature. I recently received my Ph.D. in Children’s literature and wrote on the Philosophy of Evil in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

I have been blogging for about 5 months now and love every minute. My blog is quite eclectic but leans toward romance, particularly romantic suspense, paranormal romance and historical romance. In addition to reading and blogging, I enjoy watching films and playing video games.

Q: Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!

I have been asking Santa every year to replace my Harry Potter series. I lost them in Katrina, which was right after the release of the final Deathly Hallows book. I didn’t think to take my books, well I didn’t think to take much of anything – so they got wet. Really wet. I would like them back again. Maybe this time around Santa can replace them with 1st Ed. UKs. I might faint.

Alison Can Read's Feature Blogger - Books and Barks

My name is Jennifer, I'm 28 years old, and yes - I'm a bookaholic. There, I said it. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? I love to read. If you don't catch me reading, I'm most likely book shopping. I turned my spare bedroom into my own personal library. One day I came across a group of people on Facebook who are just as much into reading as I am. Book Club was started over our love of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. Finally we had other people to discuss our love of Eric with! Now we read and discuss many other series as well, focusing mainly on paranormal.

Talking books with a group led me to creating my blog. I thought to myself, what are some of the things I love most. The answer - books and dachshunds. So that's how Books and Barks was born. Its fun getting to share all of the wonderful books I've found with other readers. The focus on my blog is mostly adult and YA paranormal romance and fantasy, and some of my favorite authors are Jeaniene Frost, Nalini Singh, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Ilona Andrews and Eileen Wilks. Trust me, there are lots more!

Okay, enough about me. Back to my books I go...

This weeks question is:

Q: Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!

A. Dear Santa, I think I’ve been pretty good this year, so here’s what I want for Christmas: Amazon gift cards! I’m known for buying whatever books I want, and almost all of the ones I’d ask for have already been pre-ordered. If you give me a gift card, I’m pretty sure I can find something to spend it on!

Okay, if you’re going to make me choose some specific books for you to bring me, here are just a few that I want:

Larissa Ione - Immortal Rider

Kresley Cole - Lothaire

Gena Showalter - The darkest Seduction

Also, hope everyone comes back for a visit in December, as I'm teaming up with fellow bloggers, Pawing Through Books and Alaskan Book Cafe, to present a special 12 Days of Christmas Extravaganza! We're each going to feature different authors every day, with special guest posts and interviews, and there will be lots of giveaways! Many authors have donated books for individual giveaways, and we'll have a special grand prize giveaway at the end of the Extravaganza. Hope you join us!!!
Now for the Follow Fun!

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

Put your Blog name &amp;amp; URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.

Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.

Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
If you’re new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!

Wow is all I can say about Heart of Darkness! It was an intense, romantic and sweet story that had me entranced from the very beginning. I loved how Aleksandr and Elise were both strong characters and needed each other, but needed to understand each other before they could truly be together.

Elise Cerny is a Vampire, a guard, and a truly determined heroine. Raised by her father, who was a Commander in the Cerny guard of Prague, believing that one day she would take her father's place as the Commander. She joined the ranks before she hit maturity at 17, much to her fathers chagrin about her doing so, but in this she is paired and trained by Andrej, an older vampire hunter who is like an older brother to her, highly skilled and was ranked as a Lieutenant by the time she joined ranks. She uses a blade and her speed in her hunt to protect her people from those who would harm humanity.

Enter our hero, Aleksandr Nemov, a former vampire prince who forsakes and gave up his title to hunt the hunters who are out to kill his kind. He is out on a hunt for a very dangerous hunter who leads him to Prague. His family believed in pacifism and not hunting humans just for the kill and the blood. In a chance encounter he end up fighting Elise after he is caught in a kill. He is enamored by her in several ways. One because as a female guard she is rare, two because of her power and lastly because of her speed. This costs him his concentration and she pins him. He request to see her master and is lead back to her castle. Here he meets the head of her family and comes to stay for the duration of the story. He determinedly requests that Elise be assigned to him and to be shown around by her. She is somewhat aghast as this is outside her normal duties.

One night when out with Aleksandr she feels a hunter approach, as her duty she protects him, but takes a hit from a poisoned bolt. She is not protected against the poison and it quickly engulfs her blood. As she is wavering into unconsciousness he leaps into action and kills the hunter that hurt her. He is so enraged by the fact she was hurt the darkness engulfs him and he massacres the body and goes as far as licking the hunters blood of her fingers. She fades into black and comes to find she was tended to by him. She was falling for him as he had already for her.

As the story continues he attempts to try to win her over, treating her as prey, hunting her, but each time he gets close, it pushes her away. He tries to get involved with her, but she ends up slapping him and states quite clearly that he is not going to possess her like he had so many other women. In attempt to do better and win her over he calls in the cavalry, his brother, Vasiliy. Things get even more out of control after Vasilily actually shows up in he Cerny castle and Alexandr's jealousy over Andrej is only fueled because of his connection to her, which he sees and Andrej can sense.

Things really get to Elise when Aleksandr and Andrej get into trouble and she intervenes. After that things are fairly tense and Aleksandr is getting to see that he must watch himself if he truly wants to win her over. Events change between them and they come to terms and understanding of each other. Alexandr also realizes he inadvertently dragged her family into danger from the hunter. When the hunter makes it known he is in town Aleksandr will go to great lengths to protect Elise and her family.

You will have to read to find out how things work out. It was definitely worth drawing things out to this point.

I give this a 5 of 5 for her well developed characters, the location, and a tense plot-line.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!

Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.

Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!>

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"Which paranormal creature do you wish would "come out of the closet" and reveal themselves to the real world?"

This was a hard choice until I really thought about which Paranormal creature I have always been intrigued with. Many of you might think I would instantly go Vampire as I do have a love affair with their ethereal beauty, charm, and of course their powers, however there is another whom still captures me so completely that my love affair soon is completely forgotten.

The Siren

There is very little written about these creatures from Greek mythology. We know some of what they might look like as described as either mermaid-like or winged creature. It was told that their voices lured ships that rocked and lulled off their coasts to their doom off their homes rocky shores. Some go as far as saying that those who fell to the siren were used to build up their island home, made up of their bones. *shudders*

I like to think of them as the winged creatures with the angelic, entrancing voices of song. They to had their own kind of ethereal beauty which lured men to their deaths, but not on purpose, but to find a mate, only to find that when they lured the men to them the men were doomed to perish off the coasts, leaving the sirens to forever find a way to break their curse and find happiness.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Note: This was an ARC at the time of reading, but has however been released in final eBook format. Book was provided by NetGalley and Carina Press. Thank you both.

A magical tale spun in the Regency Era, in the early 1800's. A tale that will make you believe in fate and that you can play a hand at determining how it can come to pass. A tale for all women who believe in seeing their fate as they desire.

Gwenyth is the Witch of Kerrow, a seer and nursemaid. Since her youth has been haunted, thanks to her gift called Sight, by the destiny which awaits any man she falls in love with. She believes her gods have set her fate, she is determined to not marry as the grief she would feel would be too much for her. However, her yearning for a daughter to carry on the Kerrow magic and healers weighs heavily on her mind. Her fate was already laid out on her tapestry in comfortable colors and she was happy in her cottage doing the local healing and birthing. Things begin to change when her brother, Jago drops an injured man off for her to care for. Little did she know how he would affect her. Qwenyth is a strong willed and determined woman who knows where her heart lies and is determined to show fate she won't let it determine her future husbands fate before she can avert it and the grief it would cause her. As she progresses she learns what love is and that some risks need to be taken to get what your heart really wants and that fate is not set in stone, but based on choices we make and how we carry on the path set forth.

Captain Rafe Fleming is a smuggler who has left his family in the wake of the disgrace and the punishment he endured for a crime he didn't commit. He is washed ashore after his ship the Cormorant is wrecked. As he comes to realize little about where he is and who is caring for him she at first didn't see Gwenyth, as he believes most witches to be older, more hunches and aged, only to find a young woman in the peak of her life. As she cares for him he begins to plan his life to return to the civilized society and take up his life with a wife of his own. As he heals and spends time with Qwenyth he comes to see her differently and tries to persuade her that her feelings are deeper than she lets on. And he doesn't realize, until its nearly too late that what he really wanted was with him all along.

Gwenyth is determined to have a child, and Rafe to find a suitable wife in society in his home of Bodliam. He feels with Gwenyth's Sight he can find a wife who can love him for who he is and not for his roguish good looks or money. She feels he may be the one to give her the daughter she so desperately needs, under the guise of being his betroved. They strike a rather strange bargain to obtain what they both want. As she makes the choice to help Rafe and leaves the confines of her small cottage she begins to question her feelings and the absurdity of the bargain. In Bodlaim she meets his family who look at her as an unsuitable wife, especially for a man of society who needs a wife who can keep him in respectable eyes. Even with Gwenyth there, his family keeps her at arms length, and she can sense their true thoughts and feelings.

They come to meet the woman who once burned and hurt Rafe in his youth, Anabel. She is vindictive little wench to put it nicely, and she is determined to have Rafe for herself since he has returned. She is eagerly welcomed into Rafe's family as the two are brought together. Gwenyth sees Anabel's true thoughts and desires and knows that she is wrong for him, but will give him a society wife. She also realized the true depth of her feelings for Rafe and reality and fate are one in the same. Things get quickly out of hand and she is eager to return home. This actually helps them as they are both trying to keep their bargain intact, but their stoked fire of love is hard to put out.
It is only near the end that both realize their desires ans reconcile things.

The ending is the part where everything comes together in a way that is truly fitting for both. I can't give it away as it is truly a marvel in and of itself. I was crying reading as the events unfolded and everything came to a truly crashing end. I was thrilled and pulled into this story as we see how Rafe handles being thrown back into society where he realizes his heart no longer yearns to be and Gwenyth finds her true feelings. There is so much chemistry and magic with Rafe and Qwenyth and seeing them get through thick and thin.

Alix Rickloff does a superb job of weaving a true tale of fate and love. All the characters are highly developed and come across in their own voices. I found myself wanting to read it more and more as the story went on. I give this a 4 of 5 for her highly developed characters and the inspiring plot she weaves.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!

Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.

Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!>

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"What supernatural power would you NOT want to have?"

I would definitely not want the power to see the future, not their death, but some peoples futures can be downright scary! I was reading a Book titled Dangerous Magic by Alix Rockloff, and the main character, a witch, has the Sight, as her power is called, and has seen her future and how her future husband dies out in the ocean. She has predetermined for herself never to marry due to the intense grief and pain it would cause her. I don't want to have to see my love's fate or anyone else's for that matter. Not Cool! I'd rather not know!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!

Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.

Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!>

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"Zombies are attacking your house! What do you grab first?" "

Zombies? Are you serious??!! I'm not about zombies, but I can play with that. If I had a shotgun I'd likely grab that so I can clear my exit route...then make a mad dash for my car before they can come after me. Since I don't truly have a shot gun I guess anything blunt and sharp will have to do...then make a break for a vehicle to get the hell out of dodge! and fast!